How do you stop hiccukps? Tips needed!

Monday, March 03, 2014

Last week I was down due to a small flu.

Strangely, HICCUPS were my biggest problem, from morning, to the evening.
From the outside, it sounds funny, and makes people laugh, but I can assure you, a day long hiccup is really bad. It was very tiring, at some point I was totally exhausted.

I tried many ways to stop it, I looked up many tips and advices with Google, but none of them did really work.

Many sites write that elevated CO2 in the blood can help.
One way to achieve this is to hold one's breath for as long as possible.
When I held it back several times, then sometimes it finally stopped.

I found the source for my hiccups is cold air, so I avoided all cold air contact possible, and ate warm things to warm up my lungs.

I'm interested in all type of tips, but mainly in things that you have tried and work for you. Also, if you have a link to some scientific evidence, that could be useful.

When I was a young I prided myself on behaving and being praised by the adults in my family. One day I had the hiccups and it was very irritating. My grandmother asked me out of the blue, "Stephanie, why did you tell me that lie?" I was terrified. I loved my grandmother and couldn't remember ever lying to her. What on earth had happened???

There was no lie, she was trying to distract me and catch me off guard and it worked! The hiccups disappeared. Looking back on it, I can't decide whether to think it was kind of mean of her to scare me like that or just laugh about it.

I was told my GRandpa had gotten hiccups so bad that the doctor wanted to "operate". I guess when he got to the hospital the hiccups were gone :) I used to take a teaspoon of water with a little sugar and walk backwards..that would usually take care of them- probably making you think about walking backwards would get your mind off of the hiccups....I like that trail for walking in the pic. Love it... We used to go for walks in Germany when we were there. lots of nice walking trails. Wish we had things like that...

I haven't had them in a long time, but I used to hold my breath. I've actually surprised/scared (dropping a heavy book on a desk behind them) people who have had the hiccups to get them to stop. I have no idea what causes them but when they persist they are stressful. Hope you are fully recovered.

For me, holding my breath usually works. I'm going to have to try the water thing suggested by MISSRUTH, sounds like that could be a winner.

When I'm with someone else who has hiccups, I get really close, put my ear right next to their mouth and say, "Oh, hiccups, let me listen." When I stand with my ear about 4 cm away from the person's mouth, listening hard, the person usually won't hiccup again. A friend showed me this trick a long time ago, and I don't know why it works, but it does. Of course, you can't do it to yourself, and if you're expecting someone else to do it, it may not work either... Also, I would only recommend doing this with people you know well because it's definitely a little weird!

Luckily I haven't gotten the hiccups in years. They truly are dreadful. Problem is they make me laugh. Don't know why but someone gets them, I have to giggle. It's especially funny when my small dog gets them and shakes the whole bed. I have a friend who gets them regularly and she just looks up, straightens her posture and breathes slowly. It seems to work well for her.

I occasionally get hiccups if I get out of bed too soon in the morning. I'm not sure why, but it happens and it's very annoying. Holding my breath doesn't always help. But sometimes breathing very slowly and exhaling very deeply does.

I have digestive issues due to surgery on my esophagus and I get dreadful hiccups. It is caused by spasms in your diaphragm. There are tons of suggested remedies but I find that there aren't any that are particularly effective...you just have to try to find what works for you.

Get a glass of water. While standing up, get a mouthful of water, then bend over from the waist (so your head is upside down) and slowly swallow the water. Might have to do this twice. Just about always works for me on the first try.

This has worked for me every single time. When I first heard to do this I didn't believe it but tried it anyway and stuck with it. Ive tried lots of other things that don't work. (spoonful of sugar, drinking out of wrong side of glass, holding breath)So here it is:Take a deep breath, hold it and take ten sips of water, swallowing completely each time. Good luck.